As I have noted before, the Sherratt Library at SUU has scanned and cataloged many historical photographs owned by the Dixie National Forest. I was looking at this image in Sherratt's online archive the other day, and I decided to go out to the forest to see if I could find the large conifer tree in the middle of the picture. The original was made by Paul S. Bieler in June of 1941, and it shows a 60 or 70 foot tree on the west side of Bowery Creek that, 70 years ago, towered above its neighbors.
This is what the area looks like today. Again, as I have noted before, there have been few, if any, natural disturbances on this part of the forest for many years. As a result, these canyons are dense with brush and smaller trees, and the older, larger trees are no longer visible. I could, on the other hand, tell that there were some largish pines on the other side of the creek, so I scrambled over there. The first one that I came to was a nice looking 20-inch ponderosa, probably 60 feet tall and maturing nicely, but could it really be a couple of hundred years old? Without an increment borer, I couldn't be sure, so I pushed on through the brush towards the next specimen.
Bingo. When I got to it, I was sure. It was the Bieler tree. A 36-inch open grown "pumpkin," a beautiful, healthy ponderosa with a plentiful cone crop and vigorous needles. Unfortunately, it no longer grows in the open, but is becoming choked by pinyon, juniper, oak, mahogany, and its own progeny. If it is going to survive another 71 years, until 2083, it might benefit from some thinning and under-burning.
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